Centre's online content blocking orders double, over half on X
What's the story
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has seen a dramatic increase in online content blocking orders over the past year. According to a report by The Indian Express, the number of such orders has doubled, with authorities citing the rise of deep fakes and objectionable artificial intelligence-generated content as key reasons. The report cited officials to quote that around 60% of these orders are for content on X, 25% on Facebook and Instagram, and 5% on YouTube.
Order increase
Requests for blocking content peaked during Operation Sindoor
The number of blocking orders has increased from an average of 6,000 in 2023 to around 12,600 in 2024 and a staggering 24,300 by December 2025. The requests for blocking online content peaked during "Operation Sindoor" in May 2025 and have remained "very high" since then. More than half of these requests come from nodal officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs.
Targeted content
Blocking orders issued against posts by political leaders
Several blocking orders have been issued to take down posts by political parties and politicians on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. A noteworthy example is of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently complained to the Home Ministry about deep fake videos of him being circulated. He said, "The fake content was apparently being generated from Pakistan, and I am told, at least in India, the fake content has been blocked."
Legal provisions
Content blocking orders passed under Section 69A of IT Act
Blocking orders are passed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000. This section empowers the government to block public access to computer resources on grounds such as maintaining sovereignty, security, public order, etc. The "Blocking Committee," headed by a Designated Officer from MeitY and comprising representatives from various ministries, passes these orders after considering inputs from global social media companies.
Urgent measures
Emergency clause frequently used due to deep fakes, AI posts
Section 69A also has an "emergency" clause for issuing urgent blocking orders without prior committee approval. This clause is frequently used due to the explosion of AI posts and deep fakes. Senior officials said they often receive requests from state governments for urgent intervention in such cases. Despite these measures, complete data on blocked URLs remains elusive as the government refrains from releasing full information even to Parliament or via RTI.